Kate Hawken put the ball into the goal twice last week in a 5-1 loss to Woodburn and a 4-1 loss to Newport in girls soccer.
Those were the first goals of the season for the Huskies, who have struggled to find the net.
“The girls are playing better,” said Coach Ramiro Santana, but conditions are tougher. “We have so many people out.”
Sydney Mauer and Torree Hawken are both unable to play, and five players are playing hurt, he said. He has been using JV players to give them breaks every 10 to 15 minutes of game time.
Santana said Tuesday’s JV game was likely to be canceled due to shortages at the varsity level, so the JV players can play in the varsity game.
At Newport on Sept. 25, the Cubs led 2-0 at halftime, Santana said. Kate Hawken scored off a corner kick about 32 minutes into the second half. Then the Huskies made a couple of errors allowing Newport to score two more goals.
The Huskies had 11 players that day and had to rely on a single JV player as a sub.
Woodburn held a 2-0 lead at halftime, Santana said. Hawken scored a goal 17 minutes into the second half, and Woodburn scored three more before the end of the game.
Woodburn previously defeated the Huskies 8-0.
“It looked totally different from how we played them the first time,” Santana said. “You can see how much they improved. We were playing so awesome.”
Sweet Home kept pressure on Woodburn, he said, and the Huskies fired off a lot of shots but were unable to score them.
The Huskies were scheduled to travel to Philomath on Tuesday and then to Stayton Thursday and Cascade on Oct. 16.
Sweet Home is 0-6-1 in league and 0-7-1 overall.
Stayton leads the Oregon West Conference with a record of 6-0-1 and is ranked fifth in the state.
Philomath is in second with a record of 5-1-1 and is ranked sixth in the state.
Woodburn is at third with a record of 4-2-1.
Newport is 3-4 and in fourth place, followed by Sisters, 2-5, and Cascade, 1-3-2.